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First edition 2018

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Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

About this book

What is in this Dictionary?

The History of Scots

The Dialects of Scots

The Vocabulary of Scots

Using this book

Scots Dictionary

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

About the Publisher

Introduction

This book was first published in 1995 as Collins Gem Scots Dictionary, with the aim of providing a handy and accurate guide to the words and phrases used in contemporary Scotland. Many things have changed in Scotland since the publication of the first edition: the political map of the country has been literally redrawn, with single-tier council areas replacing a two-tier system based on regions and districts; more dramatically, the Scotland Act of 1998 established a new devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, with its own headquarters and distinctive ways of operating. These developments – as well as changes in other Scottish institutions – have introduced a number of new words into the everyday language of Scottish people, while rendering other terms redundant, and this edition of the dictionary has been revised to include important new words and phrases and remain a reliable guide to modern Scots.

About this Book

The Little Book of Scots is a dictionary of living Scots; but both “living” and “Scots” are terms which need some clarification. By “living” we mean that the words and terms defined are either in current everyday spoken or written use, or are readily familiar to Scottish people.

By “Scots” we mean the language of Germanic origin spoken by most Scots which is neither standard British English nor general slang.

Over the years, a great deal of excellent lexicographical work has been done on literary and historical Scots; and in recent years a number of smaller scale dictionaries dealing with the contemporary speech of various regions of Scotland have appeared. The aim of this book is to survey the modern colloquial language of Scotland as a whole, while not neglecting vital archaic or formal terms.

What is in this Dictionary?

This book covers three main types of vocabulary: everyday language, official and technical language, and literary language.

Everyday language. This consists of the words and phrases which people use in normal informal conversation. Some of these are used almost universally in Scotland, others only by people who speak broader forms of Scots rather than “Scottish English”, and others are restricted to one part of the country. It is highly unlikely that any one person would use all the words in this book as part of their natural language. Where we believe that a term is regional, we have indicated this in the entry.

Dialects have been covered according to the number of speakers they have: roughly a quarter of the population of Scotland lives within twenty miles of central Glasgow, and the language of urban West Central Scotland is therefore dealt with in more depth than the language of Caithness or the Borders. (West Central Scots is also the dialect most often heard on television, whether in comedies or in detective series.) This is not to say that one dialect is better Scots than another, simply that some are more widely spoken than others.

Official and technical terms. Scotland has its own distinctive systems of law, religion, education, and government, and each of these systems has its own terminology. Many of these terms are included. Also included are words to do with specific Scottish activities such as whisky-making, shinty, and piping.

Literary Scots. Different writers have used Scots in different ways. Some have written in what is more or less standard literary English, with a sprinkling of Scots words and idioms. Others have chosen to write using a language based on the speech of one particular area, be it Glasgow, Edinburgh, or the rural Northeast. Yet others have attempted to create a modern literary Scots by using words from all parts of the country and, where necessary, going back to the language of Scots writers of the past for vocabulary. The objection often raised to this approach is that the result is far removed from the natural speech of any person from any part of the country. This split between literary and colloquial language is not unique to Scots – as the Scots language poet Sydney Goodsir Smith pointed out, “wha the deil spoke like King Lear?” – but because the standard written language of Scotland for the past three centuries has been English, the difference is particularly noticeable in Scots. For reasons of space only the most basic literary Scots has been included.

The History of Scots

When the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons began to settle in Britain from the fourth century on, they brought with them their own Germanic dialects, and these became Old English, the language of the parts of England and Southern Scotland under Anglo-Saxon rule. This eventually developed into what is known as Middle English. Over the centuries, as the Scottish and English states emerged as unitary wholes, and followed their own historical paths, a language based on the Northumbrian dialect of Middle English (that spoken North of the Humber) emerged as one of the standard languages of Scotland. It is ultimately from this that modern Scots is descended. Scots has always tended to define itself in terms of what it isn’t: this early Anglo-Saxon derived tongue, initially only spoken in Southeast Scotland, was known as Inglis, to distinguish it from the Gaelic spoken in the Highlands and parts of Southwest Scotland, the Welsh-related language of much of West Central Scotland, the Pictish of the Northeast, and the Norse of the Islands and the Far North. Only later, when it had emerged as the chief administrative and spoken language of Scotland (although Gaelic remained in widespread use), did it became known as Scots to distinguish it from the separate but closely related tongue of England.

Over the years, Scots has been much influenced by the English of England. Indeed, there has never really been a complete split: many Northern English dialects have descended from the same Northumbrian roots as Scots, with words such as bairn (a child or baby), fell (a mountain or hill), and flit (to move house) being found in Scots and Northern English alike. The main literary and political language of England (so-called Standard English), however, was one based on the East Midlands dialect spoken in London.

For many centuries, Scots and English developed in parallel: but the decision of the Church of Scotland to adopt a version of the Bible in English rather than in Scots following the Reformation, and the Union first of the Scottish and English crowns and later of the Scottish and English parliaments, meant that Scots came to have less and less social status. Many members of the Scottish nobility and middle-classes, eager to prove themselves good North Britons, made strenuous efforts to avoid all Scottish idioms and pronunciations.

But despite these attempts, Scots has remained in constant use, if mainly as a spoken language. The language of modern Scotland remains distinct from that of England, with its own words, idioms, and grammar. A typical recent edition of one of the Scottish national newspapers, for instance, mentions a depute fiscal at a Sheriff Court, a wasp’s bike, and a Church of Scotland clergyman who had demitted his post as a minister; Scottish greengrocers sell syboes; and in Scotland’s pubs, drinkers continue to get guttered on pints of heavy and wee goldies.

It should also be noted that the trade between Scots and English has not all been one way: such commonplace English words as cuddle, eerie, and greed were originally Scots.

The Dialects of Scots

Most authorities divide Scots into four groups of dialects, the larger of which have major subdivisions. There are many more subtle changes of dialect than can be covered here, and, particularly in areas where the majority of the population have lived locally all their lives, many people can distinguish between the speech of people from one town or village and their neighbours from a nearby area.

Central Scots, despite its name, is spoken throughout the area south and west of the Tay, with the exception of a small area in the Borders and Eastern Dumfriesshire. It is the most widely spoken form of Scots, and can be divided into East Central Scots, West Central Scots, and Southwestern Scots. One of the chief differences between them is that the vowel sound in words such as a’, cauld, and wa (all, cold, and wall) is pronounced aw in the West and ah elsewhere. Throughout the Central Scots area, the -u- or -ui- or -oo- vowel in words such as guid (good), school, or moon is usually pronounced -i- (as in English hid).

Northern Scots is the other main form of Scots, within which Northeastern Scots, spoken in the area north of Stonehaven and East of Inverness, forms a distinct dialect. The most immediately obvious feature of Northern Scots is that wh- at the beginning of a word is usually pronounced f-, for instance in fit (what) or fite (white). The vowel in guid, school, and moon is generally pronounced with an -ee- (as in English heed), but in the Northeast when this sound follows a hard g or k it is pronounced -wee- (gweed, skweel). All forms of Northern Scots frequently drop the initial thin words such as the, this, and that. A noticeable grammatical feature of Northern dialects is the tendency to use this and that instead of these and those when referring to more than one person or thing: did you see that two mannies?

Island Scots. Orkney and Shetland formerly spoke a Scandinavian language known as Norn which had been superseded by Scots by the end of the 18th century. However many Norn words, such as voe (a narrow bay) have survived into the present-day dialects. Other distinctive features of Orkney and Shetland dialects are the preservation of the distinction between the formal you and the informal thou, and the pronunciation of th as d or t, as in tink (think), blide (blithe, happy), or da (the).

Southern Scots is spoken in Eastern Dumfriesshire and along most of the Border. Its speakers tend to say -ow and -ey at the ends of words, where people from elsewhere in Scotland would say -oo and -ee. It is sometimes referred to as the “yow and mey” dialect as a result.

The Highlands and the Western Isles, where Gaelic was (and some times still is) the main language, are generally described as speaking Highland English rather than Scots, although many Scottish words are in common use there.

The Vocabulary of Scots

The different histories of Scotland and England have meant that Scots and English have not only emerged from different Germanic dialects, but have absorbed words from different sources.

Much of Northern and Eastern Scotland was settled by the Vikings, and their Old Norse tongue has contributed terms such as kirk (church), brig (bridge), and lowp (leap), some of which also exist in Northern English.

Later, political and trading alliances with France provided words like ashet (a type of plate), fash (to bother or annoy), and gigot (a cut of meat).

Other trade links with the Netherlands endowed Scots, particularly its Eastern dialects, with a number of words, with howff (a pub), loon (a boy or young man), and pinkie (the little finger) all coming from Dutch or Flemish.

Gaelic was formerly much more widely spoken than it is today, and many words have passed from it into Scots. Some words, such as glen (a narrow valley), keelie (a generally derogatory term for an urban working-class man), and partan (a crab), are general Scots, others, such as bourach (a heap or a mess), cailleach (an old woman), and laroch (a ruin) are restricted to areas in the North or West where Gaelic was historically strongest or where there has been large-scale immigration from Gaelic-speaking areas.

Scots also shares a number of words, such as hooley (a wild party), with Irish English: over the centuries there has been a long tradition of migration between the two countries, to the extent that dialectologists regard the language of some parts of Northeastern Ireland as “Ulster Scots” rather than a dialect of Irish English.

Lastly, there are a number of words that have come into Scots, and particularly its Eastern and Northern dialects, from the language of the travelling people, for example barrie (excellent) and gadgie (a man or youth).

Using this book

Headwords are shown in bold.

Variant Spellings. Modern Scots is more often spoken than written, and many words therefore have variant spellings based on the writer’s attempt to represent his or her pronunctiation of the word. The main entry for a word can be found at the spelling which we believe is most common in current use. We have tried to minimize the number of variants shown to make the text easier to follow, but where a number of spellings are in common use, the most common variant (or variants) is shown after the headword. For example:

cock-a-leekie or cockie-leekie Cock-a-leekie is soup made from a fowl boiled with leeks. Some recipes include prunes.

fae (fay) or frae (fray) Fae means from: some guy fae Tollcross; Where’d he get that fae?

The variant form is given an entry of its own, referring the reader to the main entry, unless the variant would come within five entries of the headword. Hence, there is an entry for frae but not one for cockieleekie:

frae (fray) A variant of fae.

Pronunciations are given for words which might be difficult or confusing for the non-Scots speaker. They are shown either by respelling, with the stressed syllable in bold, or by rhyming them with a word with a similar pronunciation.

ca’ or caa (caw) …

caber (rhymes with labour) …

ceilidh (kale-ee) …

There are a number of regional variations in pronunciation in Scotland: in general the form shown is a West Central Scotland one, that being the most widely spoken dialect, but where a word is most common in a particular area, the pronunciation appropriate to that region is given.

Where more than one way of pronouncing a word is in widespread use, all these pronunciations are shown.

dicht (diCHt or dite) …

In respellings, each syllable has been shown in a form likely to be clear to all speakers of British English. However, the following points should be noted:

g always represents the hard “g” in gun, never the soft “g” in gin

ch represents the “ch” in cheese or church

CH represents the guttural sound represented by the “ch” in the Scots loch and in the German composer Bach

th represents the unvoiced “th” in thin, three, or bath

TH represents the voiced “th” in this, father, or bathe

iy represents a vowel sound used in Scots but not in English. It is the vowel in the normal Scottish pronunciation of bite, pronounced a bit like “eye” but shorter. It is used in the Scots pronunciation of Fife and tide, as distinct from the longer vowel in Five and tied

wh: words which, in southern English, start “wh-” but are pronounced as if they started “w-” (for example, what, white) are always pronounced with an initial “wh” sound in Scots. This sound is rather like the “h” in hit and the “w” in wit pronounced almost simultaneously

A

a’, aa or aw (aw) A’ means all: It’s a’ the same tae me.

Aberdeen Angus Aberdeen Angus is a breed of black hornless beef cattle originally bred in Aberdeenshire and Angus.

Aberdeenshire (ab-er-dean-sher or ab-er-dean-shire) Aberdeenshire is a historic county in Northeast Scotland. It is now the name of a council area encompassing the old county (except for the city of Aberdeen) plus Kincardine and most of Banff.

Aberdonian An Aberdonian is a person from Aberdeen. The dialect of Scots spoken in Aberdeen is also called Aberdonian. Something which is Aberdonian comes from, or is typical of, Aberdeen.

ablow (a-blow) Ablow means below: in ablow the sink.

a’body (aw-bid-ee) In some parts of Northeast Scotland, a’body means everybody: Ssh! We don’t want a’body to know aboot it!

aboot (a-boot) Aboot means about: That’s aa you incomers go on aboot.

abune (a-bin) or abeen (a-been) Abune means above.

academy In Scotland, some secondary schools are known as academies. Originally, an academy was a public or private school in a burgh: Bathgate Academy; St Margaret’s Academy.

Accies

Accies Accies is an informal way of referring to a sports club with Academicals or Academical in its name, indicating that it was formed by members of an academy: Hamilton Accies.

ach (aCH) Ach is an expression of surprise, disgust, or resignation: Ach, you don’t really notice the smell after a while.

act it To act it is to behave in a misleadingly innocent way: He’s acting it if he says he didn’t know.

Adam An Adam house, interior, piece of furniture, etc., is one designed by the architect and decorator Robert Adam (1728–92): a grand Adam mansion in Charlotte Street. Adam successfully emulated the harmony and grace of classical and Italian Renaissance architecture in the many British country houses he and his brother James (1732–94) built. His greatest Neo-Classical work is undoubtedly Charlotte Square (1791) in Edinburgh. The exterior of Culzean Castle in Ayrshire is a good example of his work in the Gothic Revival style.

Advanced Higher An Advanced Higher is the highest exam or qualification of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate, usually taken after the sixth year of secondary school, at the age of 17 or 18, a year after Highers: She achieved an A in Advanced Higher Music.

advocate An advocate is a lawyer who has passed certain extra exams and is permitted to plead in the High Court. The English equivalent is a barrister.

Advocate Depute An Advocate Depute is a law officer who prosecutes in important cases on behalf of the Lord Advocate. The English equivalent is a public prosecutor: The Advocate Depute asked him if he was aware of the possible consequences of telling lies on oath.

ae (rhymes with bay) Ae means one or a single: ae fond kiss.

aff 1 Aff means off: Get aff the grass! 2 Aff also means from: I got it aff ma sister.

afore (a-fore) Afore means before: I’ll get home afore you. Afore also means in front of.

after If someone says they are just after doing something, they mean that they have just finished doing it: Wipe your feet. I’m just after cleaning the floor.

agent An agent is a solicitor acting on a person’s behalf, especially in a court hearing: the defence agent.

ages Someone who is ages with someone else is the same age as that person: My James is ages wi her David.

agley (a-glay or a-gliy) or aglee (a-glee) Agley means squint or askew. If something goes agley it doesn’t happen or work out in the way that was intended or hoped for: Their schemes had gone irreparably agley. [The word comes from the earlier gley squint, which comes from Middle English]

Ah Ah is a Scots word meaning I: Ah said Ah hadnae seen him.

ahint (a-hint) or ahent (a-hent) Ahint means behind or at the back: Hing yer coat up ahint the door.

aiblins (abe-lins) Aiblins is an old-fashioned or literary word meaning perhaps or possibly: We’d had a few pints – aiblins a guid few.

ain (rhymes with rain) Ain means own: I’m going on my ain; He can wash his ain claes.

aince (eenss) Aince is a Northeastern word meaning once.

airt An airt is a direction or point of the compass. From a’ the airts means from all over the place.

Alba (al-a-pah) Alba is the Gaelic name for Scotland. A number of motorists in Scotland, even non-Gaelic speaking ones, have Alba on the nationality plates on their cars.

aliment In Scots Law, aliment is maintenance or support claimed by one person from another, especially money paid by one spouse to another when a couple is separated but not divorced.

Andrew, St

Andrew, St St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. He was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, and the brother of Peter. His feast day is on November 30th.

ane In some parts of Scotland, ane means one: A guid New Year tae ane and a’!

anent (a-nent) Anent means about or considering: a few remarks anent the meeting.

Angus (ang-giss) Angus is a historic county in the northeast of Central Scotland, the southern boundary of which is the Firth of Tay and the eastern the North Sea. It is now the name of a council area occupying much the same area as the old county.

Arabs The supporters of Dundee United football team are nicknamed the Arabs. [The origin of the nickname is unclear, but it may have started as a jocular reference to the one-time sandy condition of the Tannadice pitch]

Arbroath The Declaration of Arbroath was a letter sent by the Scots nobles to the Pope in 1320, asserting Scottish independence.

Arbroath smokie An Arbroath smokie is a small haddock that has been cured by being salted and then smoked unsplit over a fire. [The name refers to Arbroath, a port in East Scotland in Angus, where this method of curing originated]

Argyll (ar-guile) Argyll is an area and historic county of Western Scotland, consisting of the parts of the mainland west of the Firth of Clyde as far north as Glencoe, and the islands off this area. Most of the historic county is now included in the Argyll and Bute council area.

Arranite An Arranite is a person from Arran, an island off the southwest coast of Scotland, in the Firth of Clyde.

arrestment In Scots Law, arrestment is the seizure of someone’s wages, bank account, social security payment, etc., until a debt due to the person or organization who started the legal action leading to the arrestment has been paid: The club appointed a liquidator after the chairman was served with an arrestment order.

as As is a word meaning than: mair as yin.

ashet (ash-it) An ashet is a large plate or shallow dish, usually oval in shape, used for cooking or serving food. [The word comes from the French assiette meaning plate]

ask for To ask for someone is to make enquiries about their well-being or health: Tell your Dad I was asking for him.

Atholl brose or Athole brose Atholl brose is a drink or a pudding made from whisky, honey, oatmeal, and water. Double cream is sometimes added. [The drink is named after an Earl of Atholl who, according to legend, incapacitated one of his enemies by spiking his well with whisky and honey]

at it To be at it means to be up to no good: There is a general belief that all politicians are at it and not to be trusted.

atween (a-tween) The word atween means between: a sausage in atween two dauds o’ breid.

aucht (awCHt) or echt (eCHt) Aucht is a Scots word meaning eight.

aucht-day An aucht-day person or thing is an ordinary or unremarkable one: a Northeastern term: jist an aucht-day kinna body. [The word comes from the earlier Scots way of referring to a week as aucht days (counting inclusively from Sunday to Sunday and so on)]

auld (rhymes with bald) Auld means old.

Auld Alliance The Auld Alliance refers to the historical links between Scotland and France. These links started in the 14th century when both nations were the subject of English ambition and endured until the Reformation ranged the two countries on different sides of the Protestant-Catholic divide. During this period France had a detectable influence on the development of Scottish institutions and law as well as customs and manners.

Auld Enemy

Auld Enemy In Scotland, the English are sometimes referred to as the Auld Enemy, especially now in a sporting context: The worst Scots nightmare, a gubbing by the Auld Enemy, was realized. [This phrase refers to the long history of conflict between the two countries]

Auld Reekie Auld Reekie is a nickname for Edinburgh. [The name means literally Old Smoky]

ava (a-vaw) Ava is a word meaning at all: It’s no for the common fowk ava.

avizandum (av-viz-zan-dum) Avizandum is the legal term for a judge’s or court’s private consideration of a case before giving judgment. A judge or court makes avizandum when time is needed to consider an argument or submission. [The word comes from the Medieval Latin avizāre to consider]

aw A variant of a’.

awa (a-waw) Awa means away.

away To be away to a place means to go there: I’m away to my work. Away! is used to indicate disbelief or surprise. Away wi ye! is used to indicate contempt for a person or dismissal of what they have said. Someone who is away wi it is very drunk. Away and … is used in many expressions of dismissal: Away and chase yourself!; Away and bile yer heid!

awfy (aw-fi) or awfu (aw-fa) Awfy means awful: Ah feel awfy. Awfy also means very: He’s awfy untidy.

aye or ay 1 (eye) Aye means yes: Aye, I’ll be there. 2 (iy) Aye means always or constantly: He’s aye complaining.

ayeways (iy-ways) Ayeways means always: He’s ayeways got a few cans put by; Ye can ayeways try again later.

Ayrshire (air-sher or air-shire) Ayrshire is a historic county in Southwest Scotland, on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde. It is now administered by three council areas: North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and East Ayrshire.

B

ba or baw (baw) A ba is a ball.

babby A babby is a slightly old-fashioned word for a baby.

bachle (baCH-l) A variant of bauchle.

back court or back green The back court of a tenement building is the shared paved or grassy area behind it.

backie 1 In Dundee, Aberdeen, and elsewhere in the Northeast, a backie is the back court of a block of flats: All the young guys played football, on the backies and on the green. 2 A backie is also one of the many local terms for a piggy-back, which is also known as a carry-code, a coalie backie, or a cuddyback in different parts of Scotland.

back of The back of an hour is the time just after it, up until about twenty past: I’ll meet you at the back of eight.

baffie (baf-fi) Baffies are slippers.

baggie or baggie minnie A baggie is a minnow, especially a large one.

bagpipes The bagpipes, often called the pipes for short, are a musical instrument consisting of a set of pipes through which air is blown from a bag held under the player’s arm. An individual instrument is known as a set of bagpipes. The type most commonly seen in Scotland, the Highland bagpipes, has one pipe with holes in it, known as a chanter, which is used to play the melody, and three pipes tuned to a fixed note, which are known as drones. The bag is filled by the player blowing into it. There also exists a smaller instrument, the Lowland bagpipes, which is sweeter toned and has the bag filled by a bellows which the player squeezes between his or her arm and side. The small Irish uillean pipes are also encountered, mainly among folk musicians.

ba’ hair

ba’ hair (baw hair) A ba’ hair is a rather indelicate term for a very small, almost imperceptible distance; a whisker: That just missed ma heid by a ba’ hair! [It literally means a male pubic hair]

bahookie (ba-hook-ee) A Glasgow variant of behouchie.

bailie or baillie (bay-li) Bailie is an honorary title given to senior local councillors in some areas. It now has no legal significance, although formerly bailies had some of the powers of a magistrate. [The word comes from the Old French baillif a bailiff]

bairn In much of Scotland, a baby or young child is known as a bairn. In West Central Scotland, the term wean is used instead: The wife’s expecting a bairn; The bairns came home from the school. A person from Falkirk is sometimes referred to as a Falkirk Bairn, and Falkirk football team is nicknamed the Bairns. [This use of the word is an allusion to Falkirk’s town motto, “Better meddle wi the deil than the bairns o Falkirk”]

baith (rhymes with faith) Baith means both.

baldie A variant spelling of bauldie.

balloon A balloon is a Glasgow term for someone who is full of hot air and whose opinions, although loudly and frequently expressed, are regarded as worthless: A pompous balloon who drivelled on about “deliverables” and “blue-sky thinking”.

ballop (rhymes with gallop) In some areas, such as Galloway, the fly on a pair of trousers is known as the ballop: I suppose we’d better tell him his ballop’s open. Also called (elsewhere) spaiver.

balmoral (bahl-maw-rul) A balmoral is a type of round brimless cap, the top of which projects beyond the side and has a bobble on it. It often has a checked band round the side, and is usually worn at a slant. [It is named after Balmoral Castle, a private residence of the British royal family in Aberdeenshire]

bampot (bam-pot) A bampot is a colloquial term for a foolish, stupid, or crazy person, as are bam and bamstick. [These terms all probably come from barm, the froth on the top of a fermenting liquid, which is also the source of the English word barmy meaning crazy]

bandit In the Glasgow area, any thing, person, or event that causes pain or outrage may be referred to as a bandit, especially in exclamations such as ya bandit!

Banff Banff or Banffshire is a historic county of Northeast Scotland, consisting of part of the southern coast of the Moray Firth and the area inland from it. It is now part of the Aberdeenshire council area.

banjo (ban-joe) To banjo someone is a Glaswegian term meaning to hit them a single hard blow.

bannock (ban-nok) A bannock is a round flat unsweetened cake which is made from oats or barley and baked on a griddle. Bannock is also short for Selkirk bannock, a type of round fruit loaf originating in the Border town of Selkirk.

Bannockburn (ban-nok-burn) References to Bannockburn are generally to the battle which took place near Stirling in 1314, at which the Scottish army led by Robert the Bruce defeated an invading English army and secured Scotland’s position as an independent nation until 1707. The present-day village of Bannockburn is situated a few miles further down the Bannock Burn.

barkit (bark-it) Barkit is a word used in the Northeast which means very dirty, used particularly of something which is encrusted with dried-on dirt.

barley

barley Barley is a cry used, chiefly in the East of Scotland, to call for a period of truce or a temporary halt to a game among children at play, used, for instance, when someone is hurt or needs to tie their shoelaces. In Western Scotland, the word used is usually keys. [The word is probably derived from parley, a ceasefire for discussion]

barley bree See bree.

baronial (ba-roe-ni-al) The baronial style of architecture is one popular in the 19th century in which buildings are ornamented with pseudo-medieval features such as turrets and mock battlements: The magnificent turreted Scottish baronial style of the exterior of the hotel.

barra (ba-ra) A barra is a wheelbarrow. Something which is right into one’s barra is ideal and exactly in line with one’s interests or desires. To fancy one’s barra is to have an unduly high opinion of oneself. In the Glasgow area, a wee barra is an informal way of referring to any small person that the speaker likes, or at least does not dislike. The Glasgow flea market is known as The Barras.

barrie or barry (bar-ri) Something which is barrie is very good or very attractive: Your hair looks really barrie like that; We’d a really barrie time. [The word, which is of Romany origin, is mainly used in Edinburgh and the Southeast]

bashit Bashit vegetables are ones which have been mashed: bashit neeps.

bastartin (bass-ter-tin) or bastardin (bass-ter-din) Bastartin is a swear word used, like damned or bloody, to indicate dislike or annoyance: Watch whit yir daein wi that bastartin hammer!

bate (bait) Bate is a Scots form of beat or beaten: We got bate wan nil.

bauchle (bawCH-l) or bachle (baCH-l) A bauchle was originally a shabby or worn-out shoe. Nowadays the word bauchle is usually used to describe an ungainly or shabby-looking person, especially a small one: a wee bauchle.

bauldie or baldie (bawl-di) Someone who is bauldie or bauldie-heidit is bald: a wee bauldie guy. A bauldie is a bald person. A bauldie is also a very short haircut: You wouldn’t notice I’d had my hair done even if I got a right bauldie, would you?

bawbag (baw-bag) The bawbag is a colloquial term for the scrotum. In the Glasgow area, bawbag is also used as an insult to a person.

bawbee (baw-bee) A bawbee was originally a silver coin worth six Scots pennies. Later, bawbee came to mean a halfpenny. Although the halfpenny no longer exists, the word bawbee is still used to mean any small amount of money, especially in phrases implying miserliness or shortage of money: the current economic climate – otherwise known as a serious lack of bawbees. [The coin was probably named after Alexander Orrok of Sillebawby, who became master of the Scottish mint in 1538]

bawface A bawface is a round, chubby face, or a person with such a face.

bawheid (baw-heed) Bawheid basically means the same as bawface. However, it can also be used as a cheeky form of address for a person: Hey, bawheid!

beadle A beadle, also known as a kirk officer or church officer, is a paid official of the Church of Scotland, whose job includes assisting a minister with administrative work and placing the Bible in the pulpit at the start of a service.

beamer A beamer is a red face caused by embarrassment or guilt, or something which is so embarrassing or bad that it causes such a blush. The word is mainly used in the Glasgow area.

bear A bear is a usually derogatory term for a wild and uncouth young man, particularly one who drinks a lot: The bar closed long before the bears’ drooth was assuaged.

beast Among farmers, a beast is a calf, cow, bull, or bullock, irrespective of its age or sex. The plural can be either beasts or beas.

beastie

beastie A beastie is any small animal, nowadays particularly an insect, spider, or similar creepy-crawly.

beauty Ya beauty! is an exclamation of delighted approval or agreement: A holiday on Monday. Ya beauty!

beds or beddies In some areas of Scotland, the game of hopscotch is known as beds. The pattern of squares chalked on the ground on which the game is played is known as a bed. Also called pauldies and peever.

beel To beel is a Northeastern word which means to fester or turn septic.

beelin To be beelin is to be furiously angry. Beelin is less commonly used to mean very drunk. A beelin is a Northeastern name for a boil on the body. [All these senses are derived from beel (see above)]

beezer Something which is a beezer is an extreme example of its kind, usually one which is bigger or better than normal. In particular, a cold but dry and sunny winter day is often referred to as a beezer.

behouchie (ba-hooCH-ee) or bahookie (ba-hook-ee) The behouchie is an informal, usually jocular, name for the backside: Sit on your behouchie, you! [It is probably a combination of behind and hough, the Scots word for a thigh]

bell The Bells is the name traditionally given to the moment at midnight on December 31st when church bells are rung to mark the beginning of the New Year: We always used to go to the Cross for the Bells, but it’s got a bit rowdy these days. When a group of people are drinking in a bar, the person whose turn it is to go and buy the next round of drinks is often said to be on the bell.

belong to To belong to a town or area is to live there: I belong to Glasgow. In Scotland, people sometimes say that the owner of an object belongs to that object, rather than the object belonging to the person: Who belongs to this coat?

belt The belt, also known as the tawse, was a leather strap with which schoolchildren were struck on the hand for punishment. Its use is now illegal: I got six of the belt for fighting. To belt a child was to punish them by hitting them on the hand with such a strap.

Beltane (bell-tane) Beltane is an old Celtic fire festival which originally took place on the first or third of May. It was also a former term day, again on the first or third of May. In Peebles, Beltane is also the name given to the festivities accompanying the Riding of the Marches, which are held in late June. [The word comes from the Gaelic belltainn]

beltie (bell-ti) A beltie is an informal name for the belted Galloway, a variety of Galloway cattle which is black at the front and rear but has a white band round its middle. They are most common in Galloway in the extreme Southwest of Scotland, where they were first bred.

ben 1 A ben is a mountain. Ben is often used as part of the name of a mountain, such as Ben Nevis or Ben Lomond. [In this sense the word comes from Gaelic, where it is spelt beinn] 2 Ben also means in, within, or into the inner or main part of a house or other building: Come ben the hoose; She was ben the kitchen making tea. A ben is also the inner or main room of a house, especially that of the old-fashioned two-room cottage known as the but-and-ben.

Berwickshire (berr-ick-sher or berr-ick-shire) Berwickshire is a historic county in the extreme southeast of Scotland, on the North Sea coast and the border with England. It is now part of the Scottish Borders council area.

besom (biz-zum) Besom is a derogatory term for a woman or girl: Cheeky wee besom!

bevvy As in some other parts of Britain, in Scotland any alchoholic drink is sometimes referred to as bevvy. A bevvy is a drinking session, and a particularly drunken one is sometimes called a heavy bevvy: It’s just another excuse for a good bevvy. To bevvy is to drink alcohol, and hence, someone who is drunk is sometimes said to be bevvied. [The word is an informal shortening of beverage]

Bhoys

Bhoys (boys) Celtic football team and its supporters are sometimes referred to as the Bhoys. [This is a mock Gaelic spelling of Boys which reflects the team’s origin among Glasgow’s Irish community]

bide To bide in a place is to live there: They were biding in a flat near the harbour. To bide in a state or condition is to remain in it: We’re no awa to bide awa. To be able to bide a person or thing is to be able to endure or tolerate it. This sense is usually used in the negative, indicating that something is intolerable: I cannae bide that man. To bide by a decision is to comply with it, even if you disagree with it: Party officials announced that they would bide by the outcome of the ballot. The past tense can be either bided, bid, or bode, and the past participle bided or bade.

bidie-in (bide-ee-in) Someone’s bidie-in is the person who is living with them as their husband or wife although they are not formally married. The word is originally from the Aberdeen area, but is now heard elsewhere in Scotland: The other significant person in McCafferty’s life is Joanna, the woman he fondly describes as his ‘bidie-in’.

biggin or bigging A biggin is a slightly old-fashioned word for a building: A sweet old granny came toddling up the brae to the biggin. In particular, the outbuildings and labourers’ cottages on a farm or estate are sometimes referred to collectively as the biggins.

bike A variant spelling of byke.

bile To bile is to boil. A fairly rude way of informing someone that they should go away, or that they are talking rubbish, is to tell them to bile their heid.

biling A biling of vegetables, especially potatoes, is enough of them to do for one meal; a Northeastern word. Biling also means very hot: Can ye no open a windae? It’s biling in here. See also boiling.

billy A billy is an old-fashioned word for a man or lad, often implying that the person is a friend or workmate.

Billy or Billy Boy In the Glasgow area, a Billy is an informal name for a Protestant, as in the sectarian football chant which begins Oh I’d rather be a Billy than a Tim. [The term is probably from the name of the Protestant King William III, who defeated the deposed Catholic King James VII (James II of England) in the late 17th century]

bing A bing is a large hill-like mound of waste from a mine or quarry: Large oil-shale bings disfigured the countryside.

binger (bing-er) A binger is a West Central Scottish slang term for a losing bet, especially one on an unsuccessful racehorse.

birk A birk is a birch tree.

birl To birl is to spin or revolve: She watched the clothes birling round in the washing machine.

birse (birss) To have or get one’s birse up is to be or become angry or annoyed. [The phrase comes from an earlier sense of birse meaning bristle]

bit 1 In parts of South and West Scotland, the place where someone lives is known as their bit: Can Kirsty come out and play at my bit? 2 A bit is a boot.

black-affrontit (black a-frunt-it) or black-affronted To be black-affrontit is to be very embarrassed or offended by something.

black bun Despite its name, black bun is not actually a bun, but is a type of very rich dark fruitcake covered in pastry, which is traditionally eaten at New Year.

blackening A blackening is a type of pre-wedding ritual carried out in some areas where the bride or groom is smeared with mud, treacle, or some similar dark-coloured substance and then often paraded through the streets by their friends.

black house

black house A black house is a type of thatched house formerly found in the Hebrides and West Highlands, which was built mainly from turf and had an open fireplace in the middle of its one room. [The term is a translation of the Gaelic tigh dubh]

blackie A blackie is an informal name for a blackbird.

Black Isle The Black Isle is a peninsula in Northern Scotland, on the East Coast slightly north of Inverness, which lies between the Moray and Cromarty Firths. [It is probably so called because until the late 18th century much of it was uncultivated black peat moor]

Black Watch The Black Watch is a traditional name for the Royal Highland Regiment in the British Army. [The name is a translation of a Gaelic term referring to the dark tartan they originally wore]

blae (rhymes with clay) Something which is blae in colour is dark blue with hints of grey and purple.

blaeberry (blay-ber-ree) A blaeberry is an edible purplish-black berry of the type also known as a bilberry or whortleberry. It is also the name of the bush on which these berries grow, which grows wild on some moorland.

blaes (blaze) Blaes is crushed hardened clay or shale, reddish or bluish-grey in colour, which is used to form the top layer of a sports ground: a blaes pitch.

blate (rhymes with plate) Blate is an old-fashioned or literary word meaning very timid or diffident or, to put it in more informal terms, backwards at coming forwards: She wasn’t blate to tell him what she thought of him.

blatherskate (blaTH-er-skate) or blatherskite (blaTH-er-skite) A blatherskate is someone who talks a lot, but rarely says anything sensible.

blaud (blahd) To blaud is a Northeastern word meaning to spoil or damage. Something which is blaudit is spoiled or damaged: E tatties are aa blaudit; a park o blaudit neeps.

blaw To blaw is to blow. Blaw is also a slang word for marijuana: He’s been at the blaw.

bleezin or bleezin fou To be bleezin is to be very drunk. This word is in current use in the Northeast, but old-fashioned or literary elsewhere: He wis fair bleezin.

blether (bleTH-er) To blether is to talk or chatter. A blether means a conversation or chat: It’s nice to sit around and have a wee blether with friends. An overly talkative person can also be called a blether: He’s nice, but a bit of a blether. To describe something as blethers is to say that it is nonsense.

blin (rhymes with pin) Blin means blind. A blin lump is a boil or other swelling which never comes to a head.

blooter A blooter is a wild directionless kick of a ball. To blooter a ball is to kick it with more force than accuracy: He blootered it over the bar.

blootered A person who is blootered is very drunk: He came home absolutely blootered.

bluebell The bluebell is a plant with narrow leaves and pale blue bell-shaped flowers. It grows on dry grassland and moors, and flowers in the summer. In England, it is known as the harebell. The Scots name for the woodland plant known in England as the bluebell is the wild hyacinth, although it is now often called the bluebell in Scotland as well.

Blue Brazil The Blue Brazil is the nickname of Cowdenbeath football club. The club is usually to be found in Scotland’s lower leagues so the epithet, comparing the blue-clad team to a rather more successful set of footballers, is ironic but affectionate.

Bluenose A Bluenose is a supporter of Rangers football team. The term is either derogatory or jocular depending on the speaker and tone.

Blue Toon The BlueToon is the nickname of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. The town and its football club share this epithet, which is perhaps a reference to the colour of clothes worn formerly by the town’s fishermen.

boak

boak or boke To boak is to vomit. Something exceptionally unpleasant can be said to give you the boak, or even worse, the dry boak: Even the look of liver gives me the dry boak, never mind the taste! Boak is vomit: There was boak all down the front of his shirt. [The word probably comes from the sound of someone retching or vomiting]

bocht (bawCHt) Bocht means bought.

bodhrán (bow-rahn) A bodhrán is a shallow one-sided drum, looking rather like a large tambourine, which is held in an upright position and played with a short two-headed stick. Originally Irish, it is now also used by Scottish folk musicians. [The name comes from Irish Gaelic]

body (bud-dee) A body is a person: a cheery wee body. A body is a way of referring to oneself: Can ye no leave a body alane?

body swerve To give something a body swerve, or to body-swerve it, is to avoid it because you think it will be unpleasant or unenjoyable. It is sometimes shortened to swerve. [The phrase comes from the image of a footballer dodging round an opponent]

boggin Something which is boggin is very dirty.

bogie or bogey (rhymes with fogey) 1 A bogie is the name given in some areas to a child’s homemade vehicle constructed from pram wheels, wooden boxes, etc. Elsewhere this is known as a cairtie, geggie, hurlie’, or piler. [This sense is from the same root as the English bogie, a wheel unit on a railway carriage] 2 The phrase the game’s a bogie is used when something, originally but not always a children’s game, has to be abandoned, because a situation has been reached where it is impossible to have a fair or valid outcome. [This sense may be connected with bogey, an evil or mischievous spirit (as in bogeyman)]

bogle (rhymes with ogle) A bogle is an old-fashioned name for a ghost. Bogle is also short for tattie-bogle, a scarecrow.

boiling A boiling is a hard sweet made from boiled sugar which has been flavoured and coloured.

boke A variant spelling of boak.

bonnet A less common variant of bunnet.

bonnie or bonny Someone or something which is bonnie is attractive and pleasant to look at: I like your hair. It’s bonnie; the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. A bonnie amount is a large amount; now a rather old-fashioned use: That must have cost a bonnie penny. See also fechter.

bonspiel (bon-speel) A bonspiel is a curling tournament. Originally they were held outdoors on frozen lochs. [The origin of the term is uncertain, but it seems to be of Dutch or Flemish derivation: the second part is related to Dutch spel and German Spiel meaning game]

bonxie (bonk-si) The bonxie is the Shetland name for the great skua: The Arctic skua is smaller than the great skua, or “bonxie”, but even more aggressive. [The word is probably of Scandinavian origin]

bool A bool is one of the large black balls used in the game of bowling, or among children, a marble. The games of bowling and marbles are both known as bools. If someone is described as speaking with a bool in their mou or mooth they are regarded as having an affectedly posh accent.

boorach or bourach (boo-raCH) A boorach is a word used in Northeastern Scotland to mean a group of assorted people or things. In the Highlands, boorach has the slightly different meaning of a mess or a disorderly state or heap. [Both senses are from the Gaelic bùrach a digging]

Borderer A Borderer is someone who lives in, or comes from, the area along the border between Scotland and England, in Scottish use particularly someone who lives on the Scottish side of the border.

Borders

Borders The Borders is the area of Southern Scotland near the border with England, extending from the Solway Firth just south of Gretna in the west to a few miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed in the east. The Scottish Borders is the name of a council area that extends inland from the East Coast to where it meets Dumfries and Galloway, about twenty kilometres inland from the eastern end of the Solway Firth.

bosie (rhymes with cosy) Bosie is a Northeastern word meaning an embrace or cuddle: Gie’s a bosie. The bosie is the bosom: Stick that flooer in yer bosie.

bothan (both-an) In the Western Isles, a bothan is a building where alcohol is illegally sold and drunk. [The name comes from the Gaelic word for a hut]

bothy (rhymes with frothy) The word bothy has a variety of meanings, all of which ultimately have to do with it being a hut used for shelter. Historically, a bothy was a building on a farm providing eating and dormitory facilities for unmarried farm workers, most common in the Northeast. Nowadays, the term has come to mean a hut or cabin where workers, for instance those on a building site, can go to shelter from bad weather, for a tea break, or to eat. A bothy is also a sparsely furnished hut or cottage which hillwalkers or climbers can use for shelter or overnight accommodation. The plural is bothies.

bothy ballad A bothy ballad is a type of folk song which originated among farmworkers in Northeast Scotland. It usually deals with everyday rural life, often in a bawdy manner.

bottling A bottling is the Glasgow name for a pre-wedding ritual in which the bride-to-be is dressed up in outlandish clothes and paraded through the streets by her female friends and relatives to the accompaniment of banging potlids. Any man such a group stumbles across is expected to give them money in return for the privilege of kissing the bride. In some other parts of Scotland where this is carried out, for instance parts of Lanarkshire, it is known as a creeling.

bourach (boor-aCH) A variant of boorach.

bowff or bouff (bowf) 1 To bowff is to smell strongly and unpleasantly, like something which has decayed and gone off: Eeugh! This beer’s bowffin! A bowff is a strong unpleasant smell. 2 To bowff is also to bark, or to speak aggressively or cough in a way reminiscent of barking.

bowly or bowlie (rhymes with jowly) Someone who is bowly or bowly-legged has bow legs: his rounded shoulders and bowly legs.

box 1 The box is an informal name for the accordion, often used in Scottish country dancing or folk music circles: He is a singer and a good box player. 2 Someone’s box is their head. This sense is usually enountered in the idioms out of one’s box meaning very drunk, or to do one’s box in meaning to baffle or exhaust mentally.

boy A boy is an apprentice.

brae (bray) A brae is a hill or hillside. In place names such as the Gleniffer Braes, the word braes means a hilly upland area.

braeheid (bray-heed) The braeheid or the heid o the brae is the area at the top of a hill.

bramble In Scotland, bramble is a name for the blackberry fruit and not just the blackberry bush. To go brambling is to go out picking blackberries.

brammer A brammer is a West of Scotland slang term for something very good: Is that a new tie? It’s a brammer. [The word may be a Scottish form of the army slang term brahma with the same meaning, and possibly comes via the former British military presence in India from Brahma, who is one of the most important Hindu gods, and hence worthy of great respect and admiration]

brander A brander is the metal grating covering a drain in the street.

braw

braw Something which is braw is fine or excellent: It’s a braw day. [The word is a Scots form of brave]

bree The liquid in which something edible has been boiled or left to soak is known as bree. Some types of soup are also traditionally called bree, such as partan bree, a type of crab soup. In the Northeast, to bree potatoes or other vegetables is to drain the water from them after they have been boiled. Barley bree is a poetic or old-fashioned name for whisky.

breeks Breeks are trousers or, occasionally, underpants. [The word is a Scottish form of breeches]

breenge To breenge is to go somewhere or do something in a hasty and forceful, and usually clumsy or thoughtless, manner: He breenged his way through the crowd. A breenge is a forceful but clumsy rush.

breenger (breenge-er) In West Central Scotland, a breenger is a person who acts impetuously and without proper thought.

breid (breed) Breid is the Scots word for bread. In parts of the Northeast, it also means oatcakes.

bridie A bridie is a type of semi-circular pie or pasty consisting of pastry folded over a minced meat and onion filling. They originated in the town of Forfar in Northeast Scotland, and are therefore sometimes known as Forfar bridies. [They were apparently originally served at weddings, hence the name, which is a shortening of bride’s pie]

brig A brig is a bridge.

broch (rhymes with loch) A broch is a type of wide round stone tower, dating from the Iron Age, which was large enough to serve as a fortified home. The ruins of brochs can still be seen in various places, mainly in the North and the Islands.

Brocher (broCH-er) A Brocher is someone from the towns of Fraserburgh or Burghead in Northeast Scotland. [The name comes from an old sense of broch, a burgh or town, still used as local nicknames for Fraserburgh and Burghead]

brocht (brawCHt) Brocht means brought: He’s been weel brocht up.

brock (rhymes with lock) or bruck (rhymes with luck) Brock is rubbish or broken or leftover pieces: He called the plan “a load o bruck”. [The word ultimately comes from the Old English brecan to break]

brogan (rhymes with slogan) Originally a brogan was a type of Highland shoe made from untanned hide and stitched with leather thongs, but nowadays it is used to refer to any type of heavy walking shoe, especially the brogue, a style of shoe decorated with a pattern of perforations along the seams. [The word comes from the Gaelic bròg a shoe, plus the diminutive ending -an]

broo A variant of buroo.

brook In the Northeast, soot is known as brook. Something which is brookie or brookit is sooty or dirty.

brose (rhymes with rose) Brose is an old-fashioned porridge-like dish consisting of oatmeal or peasemeal mixed with boiling water, a pinch of salt, and sometimes some butter. See also Atholl brose.

bruck (rhymes with luck) The usual Orkney and Shetland form of brock.

bubble To bubble is to cry, snivel, or weep: The wean came in from school bubblin. A bubble is a cry: She had a wee bubble at the end of the picture.

bubbly Someone who is bubbly is in, or on the point of, tears, or is sulking: Ah thought ye wantit to go. Well stick, bubbly!

bubbly jock A bubbly jock is a male turkey. [It is probably so called because of the noise it makes]

bucket In Scotland, a bucket can be a wastepaper bin or dustbin as well as a pail: Chuck it in the bucket, will you? A bucket is any undefined but large amount of alcohol. In this sense the word is usually encountered in phrases such as we’d both had a fair bucket or he takes a good bucket.

buckie

buckie A buckie is a whelk, a type of shellfish with a snail-like shell, some varieties of which are edible. [The term comes from buccinum, the Latin name for a whelk]

Buckie Buckie is an informal name for Buckfast, a tonic wine (brewed in Buckfast Abbey, Devon), the cheapness and strength of which make it popular with those whose aim is to get drunk as quickly as possible: C’mon we’ll get blootered on Buckie before the game.

Buddy A person from Paisley is sometimes referred to as a Paisley Buddy. St Mirren, Paisley’s professional football team, are nicknamed the Buddies. [The word comes from the pronunciation of the Scots word body, a person]

Bully Wee The Bully Wee is the nickname of Clyde football team. [The name comes from bully, an old-fashioned term meaning fine or admirable, plus wee reflecting the fact that Clyde were always one of the less powerful and successful of the Glasgow teams. (They now play in Cumbernauld)]

bum To bum is to boast or brag. A boaster or conceited person can be spoken of contemptuously as a bum. [These senses come from the earlier Scots sense, to make a humming or buzzing noise]

bumbaleerie (bum-bah-leer-ree) The bumbaleerie is an informal, often jocular, term for the backside.

bumfle A bumfle is a wrinkle, crease, or fold in something. If something is bumfled or bumfled up, it is untidily wrinkled or creased: My skirt had got all bumfled up at the back. [The word comes from the earlier Scots bumph meaning a lump or bump]

bummer In informal speech, a heid bummer is someone who holds a position of power or authority in a place or organization: The site gaffer told his men to make an effort because lots of heid bummers drive past there.

bum up To bum something up is to claim that it is very good, or to make it out to be better than it really is: Ach, it was okay, but it’s no all it’s bummed up to be.

bunnet The word bunnet usually refers to a man’s soft flat peaked cap. It can however be used of almost any flattish male headgear, such as a Tam o’ Shanter or balmoral, and is sometimes also used of similar hats or caps worn by women.

bunnet hustler A bunnet hustler is someone, usually middle-class or with a well-paid job, who deliberately puts on what they think is a working-class manner, or is excessively proud of their working-class origins; a derogatory Glaswegian term.

burgh (burr-a) A burgh is a town, specifically one which has been granted a charter by the monarch (a Royal Burgh) or by a noble (a Burgh of Barony) which formerly allowed the town certain legal privileges such as the right to hold a town fair and have its own town council: A host of events are being staged in the town to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of burgh status; the burgh surveyor. [The word is the Scottish form of borough]

burgh hall A burgh hall is the same as a town hall: The meeting is to be held at the Burgh Halls in Linlithgow.

burn A burn is the usual Scots word for a stream or brook. Burn is often used as part of the name of a stream: the Swilcan Burn.

Burns Night The 25th of January, the anniversary of the birth of the poet Robert Burns (1759–96), is known as Burns Night, and a tradition has developed of celebrating his life and work on that date.

Burns Supper A Burns Supper is a meal held on or near Burns Night to celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns. It traditionally opens with a haggis ceremonially being brought into the room to the accompaniment of bagpipes. After someone has recited Burns’ poem “Address to a Haggis”, the haggis is eaten with turnips and mashed potatoes. After the meal, a speaker proposes a toast to “The Immortal Memory” of Robert Burns, before the evening continues with a variety of other toasts. The first Burns Supper was held in Edinburgh in 1815. They were originally men-only events.

buroo

buroo (buh-roo or broo) or broo The buroo is money that is paid to people who are unemployed, or the office at which people sign on for this benefit: Has your buroo money come through yet? To be on the buroo is to be unemployed. [The term comes from Employment Bureau, a former name for a Jobcentre]

bursar In Scotland, the word bursar can refer to a student who holds a bursary as well as to the chief finance officer in a university or college.

bursary A bursary is a scholarship or grant awarded to a student, either from a university or a local authority, usually as a result of financial hardship or obtaining one of the best marks in a special exam held by certain universities (a bursary competition). [The word ultimately comes from the Latin bursa a purse]

burst The phrase a hunger or a burst indicates that the speaker thinks there is always too little or too much of something, but never the right amount: We’re either sitting twiddling our thumbs or rushing about trying to do three jobs at once: it’s aye a hunger or a b urst around here.

but 1 In the Glasgow area, but is often used as the last word of a sentence to emphasize what has been said in the rest of the sentence, especially when this contradicts or qualifies what has previously been said, either by the speaker or by someone else: He’s dead nice. Ah dinnae fancy him but; Ah’m no goin till Tuesday but. 2 A but is the kitchen or outer room of a house, especially of the two-roomed cottage known as a but-and-ben. 3 But is the past tense of bite.

but-and-ben (but-and-ben) A but-and-ben is a type of old-fashioned rural cottage consisting of two rooms, usually a kitchen and living room.

Bute (byoot) Bute is an island and historic county in the West of Scotland, at the north end of the Firth of Clyde. It is now part of the Argyll and Bute council area.

Bute House Bute House is a house in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh which is the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland. [It is named after the Marquess of Bute, who bequeathed the house to the National Trust for Scotland in 1966]

buttery A buttery is a type of crumbly, butter-rich, bread roll originating in the Aberdeen area: Two cups of coffee and a couple of butteries, please. Also called (in the Northeast) buttery rowie or rowie.

by In phrases such as put by or lay by, by means aside or away: I’ll put the rest by for you and you can collect it later. By also means past: The rolls are by their best but still eatable; Ach well, that’s Christmas by for another year.

bye A bye or a bye kick is a goal kick at football, taken when an attacker has kicked the ball out of play over the goal line. While it is in general use, most commentators and sports journalists prefer to use the more formal “goal kick”: Are you blind, ref? That was a bye, no a corner! To give something a bye is to decide not to do it, or, if you are already doing it, to stop: “We’re gaun up the toon for a pint. Fancy comin?” “Naw, Ah’ll gie it a bye the night”; That’s a dreadful racket. Gie it a bye, will ye! [This sense comes from the sense of a team progressing automatically to the next round of a competition without having to play a game, either because it has been seeded or because there is an uneven number of competitors]

byke (bike) or bike A byke is a wasps’ nest.

byre (rhymes with wire) A byre is a shed or stable where cows are kept.

C

ca’ or caa (caw) Ca’ means the same as call (in all its senses). Ca’ also means to drive or propel: to ca’ nails into a wall. To ca’ canny means to be cautious or take care: Ca’ canny along this road. To ca’ the feet frae someone is to send them sprawling.

caber (rhymes with labour) A caber is a heavy section of trimmed tree trunk thrown in competition at Highland Games. The caber must be thrown so that it lands away from the thrower and on its heavy end. The sport of throwing cabers in competition is known as tossing the caber. [The word comes from Gaelic cabar a pole]

caddis Caddis is a Northeastern word for fluff, especially the kind which accumulates under a bed.

cadger A cadger is a person who travels from place to place buying and selling goods, especially fish. A cadger is also a carrier of goods.

cadie (rhymes with lady) In Central Scotland, a man’s flat cap is sometimes referred to as a cadie.

cahoutchie or cahoochy (ka-hootch-ee) Cahoutchie is an old-fashioned word for rubber: a cahoutchie ball. [The word is adapted from the French word for rubber caoutchouc]

cailleach (kale-yaCH or kal-yaCH) In North and West Scotland, a cailleach is an old woman: My memory of her is of a vague chain-smoking cailleach in eccentric garb and heavy henna. [The word is Gaelic]

cairt 1 A cairt is a cart. 2 A cairt is also a playing card.

cairtie (care-tee) A cairtie is the name given in some areas to a child’s homemade vehicle constructed from pram wheels, wooden boxes, etc. Also called (elsewhere) bogie, geggie, hurlie, or piler.

Caithness (caith-ness) Caithness is a historic county at the extreme northeastern tip of the Scottish mainland. It is now part of the Highland council area.

Caledonia Caledonia is the poetic name for Scotland or the Highlands: Caledonia, stern and wild. Something which is Caledonian relates to Scotland or the Scots: He failed to appreciate the nuances of Caledonian humour. [Caledonia was the Roman name for Northern Britain]

Caley (rhymes with rally) The word Caledonian, when part of a place or other name, is often shortened to the informal Caley: D’ye go doon the Caley Road? Caley or Caley Thistle is used as a nickname of the football club Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Caley Thistle were beaten by St Johnstone in the third round.

call In Scotland’s Presbyterian churches, a call is an invitation to a clergyman by a congregation to become its minister: The minister of Scalpay Free Church in Harris has accepted a call to Toronto Free Church.

callant (kal-ant) or callan A callant is a young man or a lad. [The word comes from the Dutch kalant customer, fellow]

caman (kam-an) In shinty, the caman is the long stick with a curved head with which the players hit the ball. [The word is Gaelic]

camanachd (kam-an-aCH) Camanachd is the Gaelic name for shinty which is often used in connection with the sport. The Camanachd Association is the game’s ruling body. The Camanachd Cup is the premier annual cup competition.

Campbeltown (kam-bell-town) A Campbeltown whisky is one produced around the town of Campbeltown at the southern end of Kintyre. The town was formerly one of the main Scottish distilling centres, although there are now only three working distilleries there.

camstairy

camstairy (kam-stair-ee) or camsteerie (kam-steer-ee) Camstairy means quarrelsome, stubborn, or unruly.

canary To have a canary is to throw a tantrum or have an emotional outburst: She’ll have a canary when she sees this mess.

Candlemas The 2nd of February, Candlemas, is one of the four quarter days or term days in Scotland.

canna (rhymes with manna) or cannae (rhymes with granny) In many parts of Scotland, canna means cannot: Ye canna park here; I cannae be bothered.

canny Canny has a number of meanings the first of which, astute or cautious with money, is in general usage throughout Britain. Canny also means good or nice: bonnie wee thing, canny wee thing. Canny can mean lucky or fortunate. In Scottish (and Northeast English) dialect, canny means rather or quite: I’ve been waiting a canny long while.

cantrip or cantraip A cantrip is a spell or magic charm: By some devilish cantrip slight, each in its cold hand held a light. To cast cantrips is to perform magic spells: A witch, that for sma’ price, can cast her cantraips, and give me advice. A cantrip is also a playful trick or a sleight of hand.

capercailzie or capercaillie (cape-er-kale-yee or cap-er-kale-yee) A capercailzie is a large European woodland grouse. In Scotland, it is found mainly in the eastern Highlands from Tayside to Easter Ross, although it may be found as far west as the Loch Lomond islands. It has a black plumage and the male has a fan-shaped tail. [The word comes from the Gaelic capull coille horse of the woods]

carnaptious (car-nap-shuss) Carnaptious is a word meaning grumpy, bad-tempered, or irritable: He’s a carnaptious auld devil! [The word comes from knap bite and the intensifier car-]

carry-code In some areas of Scotland, a carry-code is a ride on someone’s back and shoulders. Also called (elsewhere) backie, coal carry, coalie backie, or cuddyback.

carry-out or cairry-oot A person’s carry-out is the takeaway drink or food they have bought from a bar, off-licence, or restaurant: Let’s get a carry-out before the bar closes. A carry-out is also a restaurant from which takeaway food can be bought: There’s a good Chinese carry-out on the High Street.

carse (rhymes with farce) A carse is an area of low-lying fertile land near a river. The word is often used in place names such as the Carse of Gowrie and the Carse of Stirling.

cateran (cat-er-an) In the past, a cateran was a bandit, robber, or mercenary of the Scottish Highlands. [The word comes from the Gaelic ceathairneach plunderer, and dates from the 14th century]

caul In Southern Scotland, a caul is a weir or a dam.

cauld Cauld means cold: a wee dram to keep out the cauld; It was awfy cauld this mornin.

cauldrife (cawl-drif) Someone who is cauldrife is prone to feeling the cold easily. Cauldrife also means lifeless.

cauld-wind If bagpipes are described as cauld-wind, they are filled by bellows rather than by blowing.

causey A causey is a cobbled street, road, or way. A causey stane is a cobble or paving stone.

ceilidh (kale-ee) A ceilidh is an informal social gathering with folk music, singing, dancing, and storytelling. This kind of gathering, which is popular in the Highlands and Islands, is normally held in someone’s house. In the rest of Scotland, a ceilidh is more of an organized evening of entertainment. Ceilidhs take place in hotels or halls hired for the evening and involve Scottish country dancing to music played usually on accordions and fiddles. Some dances are for couples and some for larger groups. [The word is Gaelic]

Celt 1 (kelt) A Celt is a person from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, or Brittany, especially one who speaks a Celtic language. The Celts were an Indo-European people who in pre-Roman times inhabited Britain, Gaul, Spain, and other parts of West and Central Europe. Something which is Celtic is of or concerned with the Celts or their languages. Celtic is a branch of the Indo-European family of languages that includes Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton, still spoken in parts of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Brittany. Modern Celtic is divided into the Brythonic (southern) and the Goidelic (northern) groups. 2 (selt) A Celt is player or supporter of Celtic, one of Scotland’s largest and oldest football clubs.

Ceol beag

Ceol beag (kyoll bayg) Ceol beag is a class of music for Scottish bagpipes, consisting of marches, strathspeys, and reels. [The phrase is Gaelic and means little music]

Ceol meadhonach (kyoll me-on-aCH) Ceol meadhonach is a class of music for Scottish bagpipes, consisting of folk songs, lullabies, and slow marches. [The phrase is Gaelic and means middle music]

Ceol mor (kyoll mor) Ceol mor is a class of music for Scottish bagpipes, consisting of salutes, gatherings, laments, and commemorative tunes. [The phrase is Gaelic and means big music]

ceud míle fáilte (kee-ut mee-luh fah-ill-tya) Ceud míle fáilte is a greeting often seen on place-name signs for towns. [The phrase is Gaelic and means a hundred thousand welcomes]

champit or chappit Champit vegetables are ones which have been mashed.

champit tatties or chappit tatties Champit tatties are mashed potatoes, which are one of the traditional accompaniments to haggis, along with neeps, in a Burns Supper.

chanter A chanter is a pipe on a set of bagpipes that is provided with finger holes and on which the melody is played. The chanter can also be played on its own for practice. Compare drone.

chanty A chanty is a chamber pot.

chanty-wrastler (chant-ee-rass-ler) In the Glasgow area, a chanty-wrastler is a contemptible person. [The word wrastler comes from wrastle meaning to wrestle or struggle with something]

chap To chap on a door or a window is to knock on it: I am directed to room five, and march up the stairs to chap nervously on the door. A chap is such a knock: Give the door another chap.

chappit A variant of champit.

chauve or tyauve (chawv) To chauve is to struggle, strive, or work hard, often with little to show for one’s exertions. A chauve is a struggle: It’s a sair chauve for a half loaf.

cheep To cheep is to whisper or speak softly. Birds also cheep, that is, chirp. The phrase not a cheep means not a word or not a sound and is often used in a command to keep quiet, such as not a cheep out of you.

cheeper A cheeper is a light kiss on the cheek.

chib In the West of Scotland, a chib is an offensive weapon, such as a knife or a razor, used to stab or slash someone. To chib someone is to stab or slash them.

chief or chieftain The chief of a Scottish clan is its head or leader.

chiel (cheel) or chield A chiel is a lad or a young man. The word is in common use in parts of Northern Scotland, but is mainly old-fashioned or literary elsewhere. [It is probably related to child]

Children’s Hearing A Children’s Hearing is the Scottish equivalent of an English juvenile court. They were introduced in 1971 with the objective of dealing with children under sixteen who are in criminal or family trouble. A Children’s Panel of three trained volunteers makes an assessment of each child, based on evidence given by anyone with knowledge of the child, then recommends whatever action is needed to be taken. Recommendations are always made with the aim to help and reform rather than punish the child.

chitter To chitter is to shiver with cold.

chitterin’ bite

chitterin’ bite A chitterin’ bite is a snack or sweet eaten immediately after a swim. It is supposed to prevent one from catching a cold.

chocolate In the Glasgow area, the phrase if he was chocolate he’d eat himself is sometimes used of a person who is conceited or boasting about his achievements.

chuckie or chuckie stane A chuckie is a stone or pebble of throwable size: throwing chuckies in the water.

chuddie Chuddie is a name for chewing gum.

chum To chum a friend means to accompany them somewhere: I’ll chum you along to the bus stop.

chunty heid In Northeast Scotland, a chunty heid is a stupid person.

church officer or kirk officer Another name for a beadle.

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland is the established church in Scotland. It has a Presbyterian structure, with each congregation being governed by an elected body of elders, and a Calvinist doctrine. The Church of Scotland has the largest membership of any church in Scotland. The secession of the Scottish Church from Rome took place in 1560 under the leadership of John Knox. In 1840, in what came to be known as the Disruption, a split took place among Scotland’s Presbyterians and some members of the Church of Scotland left to form the Free Church. See Kirk.

chute (shoot) A chute is a playground slide.

City Chambers In Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee, the City Chambers is the seat of municipal government.

clabber or glabber In Southwest Scotland, clabber is a word for mud, earth, or clay. [The word comes from the Gaelic clàbar meaning mud or a puddle]

clachan (klaCH-an) A clachan is a small village or hamlet. Clachan, being a Gaelic word, was first used of only Highland villages, but its use is now more widespread. [The word is Gaelic and means stone]

clack or claick In Northeast Scotland, clack is gossip or chat. To clack is to gossip or chat. [This sense probably developed from one of its original meanings: the clattering sound a mill makes when in motion]

Clackmannanshire (clack-man-an-sher or clack-man-an-shire) Clackmannanshire is a historic county in East Central Scotland at the northwest end of the Firth of Forth. It is now the name of a council area occupying much the same area as the old county.

claes (klaze) Claes are clothes. The saying back to auld claes and porridge means a return to normality after a period of jollity, celebration, or indulgence: After Hogmanay it’s back to auld claes and porridge for us.

claik See clack.

claim In Glasgow, to claim someone is to announce one’s intention to beat them up: You’re claimed after school.

clan In Scotland, a clan is a group of families with a common surname united under a single chief. Each clan member is, theoretically, descended from a single ancestor from whom the name of the clan derives. Members often bear the name of the founder preceded by Mac-, a Gaelic term for ‘son of’: MacDonald. The clan system went into terminal decline in the years following the suppression of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion and the process was accelerated by the Clearances, which forced large numbers of Highland Scots abroad to countries such as the USA, Canada, and Australia. Many of the descendants of these emigrants are proud of their Scottish ancestry and some occasionally return to Scotland for clan gatherings. [The word is from the Gaelic clann family]

clanjamfrie (clan-jam-free) or clamjamfrie Clanjamfrie is a word used to refer disparagingly to a group of people, especially if one considers them a rabble. A clanjamfrie is also a varied assortment of things; a mixed bag: The clamjamfrie of tenements, courtyards, and closes which forms Edinburgh’s Old Town.

clap

clap To clap an animal, especially a dog or a horse, is to give it an affectionate pat: It likes ye to clap its wee head. A clap is such an affectionate pat.

clappy-doo (clap-pee-doo) or clabby-doo A clappy-doo is a large black mussel. [The word is from the Gaelic clab enormous mouth plus dubh black]

clapshot Clapshot is a dish consisting of potatoes and turnips which have been boiled and then mashed together in roughly equal quantities: Lunch is fillets of cod served with clapshot, roasted peppers, and chilli oil.

clarsach (klar-saCH) The clarsach was the ancient Celtic harp of Scotland and Ireland. Its use has been revived by folk musicians in both countries this century. [The word is Gaelic and means harp]

clart or clort A clart is a lump of mud or something else unpleasant. A clart is also a dirty mess. [The word is perhaps from the Middle English biclarten defile]

clarty, clatty, or clorty Something that is clarty is messy or dirty: The Tourist Board’s inspectors are encouraged to give clarty accommodation the bum’s rush.

clavie (clay-vee) A clavie is a tar-barrel traditionally set alight in Moray on Hogmanay to bring good luck in the ceremony known as burning the clavie.

claw To claw something is to scratch it: He winna claw an auld heid.

claymore A claymore is a large two-edged broadsword used formerly by Scottish Highlanders. The later single-edged baskethilted sword is often called a claymore. [The word is from the Gaelic claidheamh mòr great sword]

Clearances or Highland Clearances The Clearances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the removal by landlords, often by force, of the inhabitants from some parts of the Scottish Highlands to make way for sheep and other more lucrative uses of the land. Many Highlanders were re-settled on poorer coastal land and encouraged to combine farming with fishing or kelp-gathering. Large numbers were driven off the land altogether and into emigration overseas or to the cities of the South.

cleek A cleek is a hook or any device shaped like a hook.

cleg or clegg A cleg is a horse-fly with a painful bite. [The word comes from the Old Norse klegge]

click If someone gets a click, they find themselves a person with whom they may establish an amorous relationship.

clint In Southwest Scotland, a clint is a cliff or crag. [The word is possibly from the Danish klint cliff]

clipe A variant spelling of clype.

clipshears or clipshear A clipshears is an earwig. [The name comes from the resemblance of the pincers at the tip of the creature’s abdomen to shears]

clishmaclaver (klish-ma-clay-ver) Clishmaclaver is a word meaning gossip or incessant chatter. [It is a combination of two Scots words, clish to repeat gossip, and claver to talk idly]

cloot Cloot is a Scots word for a piece of cloth or a cloth used as a duster, etc.: Dicht roon the sink wi a cloot.

clootie dumpling (rhymes with booty) A clootie dumpling is a rich dark fruitcake served as a dessert, like a Christmas pudding. It is boiled or steamed in a cloot or cloth. Until the recent past, clootie dumplings were made as a birthday treat for children and, like Christmas puddings, were often made containing sixpences.

clort A variant of clart.

close

close (klohss) In much of Scotland, a close is a narrow lane or passageway leading off a main street: The restaurant is tucked away at the foot of a close off the High Street. Close is often part of the name of such lanes: Advocates Close; Mary King’s Close. A close may also be a passageway connecting a group of houses to a main street. In Glasgow and West Central Scotland, the common entry and stairway from the street in a tenement building is known as a close: Reared up a close in Govan, he feared no-one. In Glasgow and West Central Scotland, a close is also all the flats sharing such a common entry and stairway: The whole close could hear the noise.

cludgie In Scotland’s Central Belt, a cludgie is a toilet: A wee boy’s got locked in the cludgie. [The word is perhaps a conflation of closet and ludge, a Scots form of lodge]

Clyde The Clyde is a river in South Scotland, 170 kms (106 miles) long, rising in South Lanarkshire and flowing northwest to the Firth of Clyde. It divides the City of Glasgow in two and was once the centre of the world’s largest shipbuilding industry, where every type of ship, from ocean liners and battleships to dredgers, were built. At its peak 14 ships a day were launched on the Clyde, and the term Clyde-built was synonymous with quality.

Clydesdale A Clydesdale is a heavy, powerful workhorse of a breed that originated in Scotland.

Clydeside Clydeside is the area of industrial or post-industrial towns along the lower length of the river Clyde. Clydeside also refers to the shipbuilding industry in this area: the Queen Mary, another famous Clydeside ocean liner. Red Clydeside refers to the militant socialist trade union and political activity in the West of Scotland, particularly in the period between the two world wars. Unemployment and disenchantment with governments who were unable to deliver their promises of a better life for working people following the Great War led to greater militancy among the industrial working classes and this was reflected in the number of socialist candidates elected to Parliament from the area.

clype or clipe A clype is a person who tells tales or informs on his or her friends, colleagues, or schoolmates. To clype

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